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I don't like guns that much but this is bs!

this is near me. I really cannot make sense of this. I'll highlight the important parts.

Princeton, N.C. â€” A Princeton High
School senior and honors student who says he inadvertently brought two
unloaded shotguns onto school property will be allowed to graduate, an
attorney for Johnston County Schools said Thursday.

David Cole
Withrow, 18, was arrested Monday on a felony charge of bringing a weapon
onto educational property, after he realized he left the guns in his
car after skeet shooting over the weekend.

Kim Boykin, a family
friend speaking on behalf of Withrow's family, said he tried to get
permission from school administrators to take home the weapon but
instead, was arrested and expelled.

But Jimmy Lawrence, an
attorney for the Johnston County Schools Board of Education, said in a
statement Thursday afternoon that Withrow has not been expelled and that
the school system superintendent "has made provisions" that will allow
him to continue his education and to receive his high school diploma if
he meets graduation requirements.

A spokeswoman for Johnston
County Schools said she could not speak specifically about disciplinary
measures against Withrow but said that, generally, students bringing
weapons to school are suspended for 10 days with a recommendation to be
suspended for a full calendar year â€“ the mandate according to state law.

"The
Legislature has mandated what actions law enforcement, school
principals and school superintendents must do upon finding a violation
of this law," Lawrence said. "It was enacted for the purpose of
'deterring students and others from bringing any type of guns onto
school grounds because of the increased necessity for safety in our
schools.' This has never been more true, based on recent events that
have occurred at schools in the United States in the last few years."

Frank Wood, an attorney for Withrow's family, said Withrow was
initially suspended but that it's unclear for how long since the length
of time is not on the suspension sheet.

Johnston County
Superintendent Ed Croom reviewed the case, Wood said, and agreed to
forgo the recommended 365-day suspension and to allow Withrow to finish
out his high school career, beginning May 13, at an alternative school.

Boykin said Withrow's family is still not satisfied since he will not be allowed to walk with his graduating class.

"He's
an Eagle Scout, a guy who made a mistake, and he doesn't deserve to
have his diploma not have Princeton High School on it," Boykin said. "He
doesn't deserve to not walk across the stage with his friends that he's
known since pre-school."

Fellow students have started a "Free Cole" campaign, including bumper stickers, T-shirts and social media to let Withrow's story be known.

They
have said that it's unfair that he wasn't allowed the same concessions
as an assistant principal who made the same mistake in 2011 when she
unwittingly brought a gun to school and was suspended for three days
without pay but didn't face criminal charges.

The news quickly spread on the Internet, causing an outpouring of support from across the world.

"It's
overwhelming, it really is," Boykin said. "In this horrible situation
that (the Withrow family) is in the middle of, this is the one thing
that they have that they can hang onto â€“ that there's so many people
coming out to stand up for their kid and realize he's a good person who
made a mistake."

Withrow's even received scholarship offers from Harding University in Searcy, Ark., and Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

"We
think he is a victim of a system that is a little bit, maybe, too
overly sensitive to certain things," Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell
Jr. said. "There has to be room for honest mistakes, and right now, I
don't think the law does that."

As far as the criminal charge against Withrow, he is scheduled to go to court May 16.

"We
don't believe there is any evidence that he knowingly and willingly
brought a gun to campus," Wood said. "I feel confident that we can get a
good result (in court)."

That's ridiculous. He realized he had made a mistake and tried to correct it, so they expel and arrest him. Way to go.

There was a kid at a high school down the street from me that someone phoned in a tip he had a knife in his car. He had left his car unlocked. The administration searched his car and found it. It's not his knife, he had no idea how it got there, and is pretty sure he was set up seeing as anyone could have accessed his car. OR, being that it was a used car he recently purchased and they found it under the seat, it could have belonged to the previous owner (hell, I found drugs in my used car once). They suspended him and banned him from prom and graduation. They still haven't been able to prove it was his knife or that he had any knowledge it was there.

The president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell jr I think, saw him wearing a Liberty University t-shirt (the kid's sister is a student there) and offered him a full scholarship.

What's so ridiculous about the offers?

Quoting Sisteract:

Why?

Those offers are as ridiculous as this story.

Quoting emeraldangel20:

it hasn't. he's been offered free rides to colleges because of this.

Quoting norahsmommy:

The poor kid should have just not said anything. He is an honest kid though and thought the adults would be reasonable and understanding. Most adults are not and he just leaned that. Poor guy. I hope this doesn't screw up his future.

Full scholarships should be offered for academics or another stand out skill- Honesty- do we not assume as a baseline that all students are honest, unless their behavior (s) indicate otherwise?

Quoting DSamuels:

The president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell jr I think, saw him wearing a Liberty University t-shirt (the kid's sister is a student there) and offered him a full scholarship.

What's so ridiculous about the offers?

Quoting Sisteract:

Why?

Those offers are as ridiculous as this story.

Quoting emeraldangel20:

it hasn't. he's been offered free rides to colleges because of this.

Quoting norahsmommy:

The poor kid should have just not said anything. He is an honest kid though and thought the adults would be reasonable and understanding. Most adults are not and he just leaned that. Poor guy. I hope this doesn't screw up his future.

This is how it was at my high school especially during hunting season because most students were going hunting, then coming to school, then going back to the woods. Lol. As long as they weren't loaded, the school didn't care. However the last 2 or so, they stopped allowing it so many students either didn't come to school or they only came part of the day during hunting season.

Quoting redhead-bedhead:

I feel so old. When I was in high school I went to a school where it wasn't uncommon to have a rifle rack in your truck with a rifle in it.

I"m not much of a fan of guns, but this is ridiculous, and not the first time a ZT policy responded moronically to someone TRYING to do the right thing by informing those in charge of an oversight in order to rectify it.

those who bring guns to school to hurt people don't turn themselves in. derp.

He's an Eagle Scout, for one thing. That is very hard to achieve and you have to work your butt off. He was also an honor student.

Here's the story I saw on Fox News today:

A North Carolina Eagle Scout who was arrested and faces expulsion for accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot has been offered a scholarship to attend Liberty University.

Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from Princeton High School when he was arrested on Monday and slapped with a felony weapons charge. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before and had only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck as he reached to grab his book bag.

The t-shirt that got Cole Withrow a scholarship

When he realized his mistake, he went to the front office and called his mother. An administrator overheard the conversation and called police.

Withrowâ€™s story has generated national attention. Hundreds of people have joined a Facebook community to show their support. And many local parents are upset over what many believe is a case of a young man getting severely punished for trying to do the right thing.

â€śYou teach your kids if youâ€™re in trouble or if you see youâ€™ve done something wrong, go ahead and admit it,â€ť family friend Kimberly Boykin said. â€śBe a man and itâ€™ll be fixed. In this case, thatâ€™s what he did and heâ€™s being punished for it. Thatâ€™s not the lesson we need to teach our kids.â€ť

Falwell told Fox News that he made a few calls and discovered that Withrowâ€™s sister is a Liberty graduate.

â€śI was really impressed with what a meek and humble Christian kid he is,â€ť Falwell said. â€śI thought he would be a perfect fit at Liberty.â€ť

So the chancellor made the 18-year-old an offer he couldnâ€™t refuse.

â€śI told him that we would give him whatever scholarships he needed to attend Liberty University,â€ť he said.

Falwell said the university is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the teenager gets a college education.

â€śThe anti-gun zealots seem to be vilifying him for making an honest mistake,â€ť he told Fox News. â€śWe want to reward him for trying to do the right thing.â€ť

And that means even helping the young man finish his last few weeks of high school. Falwell said they offered to let him finish his high school work through their online academy.

Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, Va., is the worldâ€™s largest Christian university with nearly 100,000 students. The chancellor said heâ€™s been flooded with messages of support for Withrow from the Liberty community.

â€śItâ€™s something our whole university feels good about,â€ť he said.

For now Withrow, who had a spotless record, faces a precarious future. Itâ€™s unclear at this point how the pending criminal charges will be worked out.

Falwell called the boyâ€™s predicament â€śdisturbing and unsettling.â€ť

â€śWhen you see a basketball player who is glorified for announcing that heâ€™s gay and then you see an honest young man like Cole arrested and treated like a criminal for making an honest mistake â€“ you wonder whatâ€™s happening to our country,â€ť he said. â€śThe culture seems to be completely disconnected from our roots â€“ our Christian heritage and our Constitution. I hope the American people wake up before itâ€™s too late.â€ť

Quoting Sisteract:

If the offers were extended solely because of this incident....

Full scholarships should be offered for academics or another stand out skill- Honesty- do we not assume as a baseline that all students are honest, unless their behavior (s) indicate otherwise?

Quoting DSamuels:

The president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell jr I think, saw him wearing a Liberty University t-shirt (the kid's sister is a student there) and offered him a full scholarship.

What's so ridiculous about the offers?

Quoting Sisteract:

Why?

Those offers are as ridiculous as this story.

Quoting emeraldangel20:

it hasn't. he's been offered free rides to colleges because of this.

Quoting norahsmommy:

The poor kid should have just not said anything. He is an honest kid though and thought the adults would be reasonable and understanding. Most adults are not and he just leaned that. Poor guy. I hope this doesn't screw up his future.

Then those qualities should have been the reasons the offer was extended.

Yes, ES does require hard work, at least it did for my husband and 2 of his 4 brothers. One brother told me that the SM told him he was not dedicated enough to do the hard work and was only involved for the fun- He is one of the non ESs in the family. LOL.

Of course an incident like this should not have excluded the student for future considerations-

Quoting DSamuels:

He's an Eagle Scout, for one thing. That is very hard to achieve and you have to work your butt off. He was also an honor student.

Here's the story I saw on Fox News today:

A North Carolina Eagle Scout who was arrested and faces expulsion for accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot has been offered a scholarship to attend Liberty University.

Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from Princeton High School when he was arrested on Monday and slapped with a felony weapons charge. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before and had only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck as he reached to grab his book bag.

The t-shirt that got Cole Withrow a scholarship

When he realized his mistake, he went to the front office and called his mother. An administrator overheard the conversation and called police.

Withrowâ€™s story has generated national attention. Hundreds of people have joined a Facebook community to show their support. And many local parents are upset over what many believe is a case of a young man getting severely punished for trying to do the right thing.

â€śYou teach your kids if youâ€™re in trouble or if you see youâ€™ve done something wrong, go ahead and admit it,â€ť family friend Kimberly Boykin said. â€śBe a man and itâ€™ll be fixed. In this case, thatâ€™s what he did and heâ€™s being punished for it. Thatâ€™s not the lesson we need to teach our kids.â€ť

Falwell told Fox News that he made a few calls and discovered that Withrowâ€™s sister is a Liberty graduate.

â€śI was really impressed with what a meek and humble Christian kid he is,â€ť Falwell said. â€śI thought he would be a perfect fit at Liberty.â€ť

So the chancellor made the 18-year-old an offer he couldnâ€™t refuse.

â€śI told him that we would give him whatever scholarships he needed to attend Liberty University,â€ť he said.

Falwell said the university is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the teenager gets a college education.

â€śThe anti-gun zealots seem to be vilifying him for making an honest mistake,â€ť he told Fox News. â€śWe want to reward him for trying to do the right thing.â€ť

And that means even helping the young man finish his last few weeks of high school. Falwell said they offered to let him finish his high school work through their online academy.

Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, Va., is the worldâ€™s largest Christian university with nearly 100,000 students. The chancellor said heâ€™s been flooded with messages of support for Withrow from the Liberty community.

â€śItâ€™s something our whole university feels good about,â€ť he said.

For now Withrow, who had a spotless record, faces a precarious future. Itâ€™s unclear at this point how the pending criminal charges will be worked out.

Falwell called the boyâ€™s predicament â€śdisturbing and unsettling.â€ť

â€śWhen you see a basketball player who is glorified for announcing that heâ€™s gay and then you see an honest young man like Cole arrested and treated like a criminal for making an honest mistake â€“ you wonder whatâ€™s happening to our country,â€ť he said. â€śThe culture seems to be completely disconnected from our roots â€“ our Christian heritage and our Constitution. I hope the American people wake up before itâ€™s too late.â€ť

Quoting Sisteract:

If the offers were extended solely because of this incident....

Full scholarships should be offered for academics or another stand out skill- Honesty- do we not assume as a baseline that all students are honest, unless their behavior (s) indicate otherwise?

Quoting DSamuels:

The president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell jr I think, saw him wearing a Liberty University t-shirt (the kid's sister is a student there) and offered him a full scholarship.

What's so ridiculous about the offers?

Quoting Sisteract:

Why?

Those offers are as ridiculous as this story.

Quoting emeraldangel20:

it hasn't. he's been offered free rides to colleges because of this.

Quoting norahsmommy:

The poor kid should have just not said anything. He is an honest kid though and thought the adults would be reasonable and understanding. Most adults are not and he just leaned that. Poor guy. I hope this doesn't screw up his future.

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
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